Fathernator
AN: This story is based on a dream I had on a tired, Friday night after a junk-food dinner.
It was a little freaky at the time, but after dreaming it the idea of a Fathernator seemed pretty funny.
The dream has aspects from movies/shows like Terminator, Junior, D&D, Angel and Matrix.
The stuff at the beginning is pretty gruesome, but then, so was my dream.
That part scared me, but I still didn't wake up.
Part One
1: Introductions
Screaming filled the air. You wouldn't have heard much else at night those days, but it put a chill through the kids all the same. Either someone had broken curfew, or another contract had been put out on someone's or some people's lives. The noise of gunfire suggested the latter. The kids stayed clear until the early hours of morning, when the slaughter would have been finished. If they were caught outside during the night, they would have been punished, along with whoever was being killed.
There wasn't much difference between night and day in the city, the only way they could tell was that the streetlights were turned on. The carnage that greeted them proved that these people had suffered greatly during the night. The corpse of a woman had only recently gone cold; she had bled on the ground for a long time before dying. The terminators had removed the bodies of the one's they'd been sent to kill, so this one must have gotten in the way. It would be up to the people who lived around here to clean up the mess. It was the machines' way of teaching them to behave, or else they'd end up like their friends.
The kids cautiously stepped forward to pay their respects; this woman had probably been innocent of everything but being caught outside with people that were to be terminated. They weren't really all children, but according to Machine law anyone under 20 was considered a child, an Innocent until caught breaking the rules. They could be punished, but they could not be terminated. It was one of the ways the machines ensured that their population of slaves continued to exist and be obedient.
The 'kids' noticed a girl standing by one of the buildings, looking at a dog that had been caught in the crossfire. It still whimpered, but when she put a hand out to comfort it, it snapped at her, alternating between whines of pain and snarls. Her expression appeared to harden. The animals had been forced to become vicious in order to survive in these hard times. The only things they feared were the machines. They were no longer man's best friends; man was on his own. Even the dogs' owners had to be wary of them. All they were good for was as attack dogs now.
The girl pitied the dog, she looked about 18, and therefore she had been around when they were kinder creatures. She could do nothing for it, even if it would let her, so she quickly pulled the dog's muzzle up, grabbed a knife from her boot and ended it's suffering.
One of the 'kids' walked towards her, a boy that was a little older than her. He'd noticed her breaking curfew before, though she'd never approached them. If she'd wanted, she'd have been welcome to join them, but she seemed like a loner. The killing of the dog had shown him that she was dangerous, but compassionate, and he was curious.
She looked up and stood, pulling out a cloth and cleaning her knife as he approached. She was deliberately presenting the appearance of being dangerous. She was involved in dangerous activities, and she hadn't joined the kids for fear of putting them in danger also. She was willing to risk her own life, but not theirs. If this boy wasn't scared off by her behaviour, it would be his own problem, but most people stayed away from her if they saw her.
"What's your name?" he asked casually, which, considering the surroundings, amused her.
"Why would I tell you?" she replied, her manner making her seem older than she was. She took in his face, which seemed honest, but that didn't count for anything those days. He wore jeans and a tattered brown jacket and sneakers, typical of a street kid.
"Because I asked nicely." He said. She was a stark contrast to his own appearance. Where he was blonde, she was dark, her hair tied back in a neat plait. She wore dark jeans, a black top and a leather jacket. Must have been an heirloom; they didn't make leather for just anybody anymore. In the dark, she would have almost been invisible. She wore sturdy, low heeled, sensible boots, also black. It was her trademark colour.
She smiled wryly. This boy was confident. "Nomad." She said, using her street name. A lot of 'kids' didn't have real names; they usually dropped them on the street. This name was safe for him to know.
"Nomad? Why that name?" He asked.
"Because I'm never in one place for long." She replied, and as she said it, she returned her knife to her boot and walked away.
"Wait, don't you want to know my name?" he called after her.
"Not really." She said, without looking back.
"Ooh, crashed and burned on that one, Blaize." His best friend teased as he returned to the group, who were now a safe distance away from the carnage being cleaned up by neighbours. He'd seen the girl walk away from his friend.
"Shut up Grunge." Blaize swung at his friend good-naturedly. Perhaps their behaviour may have seemed inappropriate considering what they'd recently seen, but it was a common occurrence. The kids had learned to get over it quickly, there was no point dwelling on the dead for long.
" I don't know why you bothered to flirt with that one. You know that Becca likes you." Grunge said.
"I think she only likes you cos you're the leader." Said another member of the group, a short brown haired girl.
"Be quiet Mouse." Her older, dark-haired brother told her. "You weren't even supposed to be here tonight."
"She had to come sometime, Grunge. Better with us than trying to see what it's like at night on her own." Blaize defended her.
The three 'kids' belonged to a small street gang called the Dead Kids Living, or DKL, made up of orphans. Most gangs were just involved in petty crimes, stealing food and valuables, and on the outside, that's what this gang was too. Though there wasn't much a bunch of kids could do about the machines, when they could screw things up for their oppressors, they did, always evading capture, knowing their streets as well as any terminator.
Their name came from an institution for orphans, where the machines raised them to be obedient citizens. Anyone who went in there usually came out dead inside, so they were known as Dead Kids. The gang members had all evaded going to the Dead Home, so they called themselves the Dead Kids Living.
The kids returned to their hideout, the basement of an abandoned warehouse, to share the news of the night.
2: Discovery
That evening Grunge, who was a skilled hacker, learned of a contract out on some storeowners who'd evaded questioning by the authorities, and were suspected to be assisting in rebel activities. They'd fed the DKL's before, but they must have been involved in something more serious to have a contract on them. Blaize, Grunge, Becca and two others went to their homes to warn them. As no terminations occurred before curfew they still had some time.
No one was home, so as the streetlights flickered, warning that curfew was near, they ran to the stores. They broke in quietly, figuring the owners wouldn't care about the damage as long as their lives were saved. They were in a large clothing store. A Patroller, which was a floating machine with cameras and an onboard computer with complete records of citizens, was outside the store. Contracts could be made if their cameras observed criminal behaviour, so their presence was a good deterrent. They also had modems, so they could alert terminators of the presence of fugitives. The kids had to avoid being seen, as it was now after curfew.
The terminators had not yet arrived, and the kids snuck behind rows of clothing. Blaize was at the rear, making sure nothing could sneak up on his group. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around to see Nomad.
"What are you doing here?" She whispered.
"What are you doing here?" He replied, suspicious. Becca, a tall blonde girl, stared at her with immediate dislike, and the others were also suspicious.
"Warning the owners about a contract, and they're gone now." She said, "Terminators are coming so you have to leave now!" She warned them. They were surprised that she also knew about the contract, and wondered why she cared. Blaize was about to ask just that when a clothing rack was thrown aside to reveal a terminator! Human on the outside, machine on the inside, they were ruthless killers. They recognised it by the Machine-issue gun in his hands and grey uniform.
AN: In my dream this terminator looked like the Arnold Schwarzenegger version
"Go." Nomad yelled, and the others didn't need to be told twice. They got to a vent where they could get out when Blaize looked back to see Nomad fending off the Terminator. She had knocked the gun out of its hands with a metal pole and was striking him with it. She must have been strong, because it flinched every time she hit it or it blocked. Blaize was about to rush back to help when she pulled a small canister from her belt and threw it at the Terminator's feet. She then jumped up, kicked off its face with both feet, and back flipped away from it. It kicked the canister away before it made a small explosion with lots of smoke. Grunge pulled Blaize back through the vent.
"Come on, she's crazy. You've got people to take care of, Blaize!"
Nomad had expected one of its legs to be immobilised by the blast, so she was shocked when she turned to see it right behind her. She was cornered.
"Well, aren't you gonna shoot me!" She yelled defiantly.
"Innocents are not terminated." It replied calmly. She had expected to be grabbed and cuffed by now, but she used his hesitation to duck past him, run upstairs and throw herself through a window to the outside, using her jacket to shield her face and hands. She got away, but she was troubled. Why didn't it take her when it had the chance? It should have grabbed her. Maybe it was malfunctioning. Terminators had to have a small level of free will in order to make decisions on the job; maybe this one was given too much.
She noted the direction the kids had gone, and then intrigued, she waited around in hiding for the reappearance of the terminator. Upon finding the owners of the store to be absent, it returned outside, reported to the Patroller, then left, its job considered finished for the evening.
Nomad followed it, hoping if it was a malfunction that she could figure out how to use it on other terminators somehow.
She followed it to an underground club, where free creatures gambled on fights. In the last decade, life on other planets had been confirmed, and a race of creatures that looked like goblins had made an alliance with the Machines. They were extremely intelligent, and due to them the Machines had become more advanced, and had taken hold over the human population of the planet. The creatures only had three fingers, so they found mechanics difficult. Humans were used to create their machinery, and some had been sent to the creature's home planet as slaves.
The Terminators fought here to keep relations between Machines and 'Goblins' going well, and also to test out their offensive capabilities against creatures the Goblins brought with them. Their little free will allowed them to enjoy fighting.
There were some slave attendants for the Goblins, so Nomad snuck in and tried to remain inconspicuous. No free human in his or her right mind would go in there anyway, so she felt safe, as long as her particular terminator didn't notice her. The slaves didn't wear uniforms or anything, so as long as she didn't act suspiciously, the Goblins would assume she was someone else's slave. She'd been here before, to steal gadgets from the Goblins, figure out how they worked, and use them to her advantage.
She pick-pocketed another bag while she was there, She pulled out a fairly new creation, and recognised it for the x-ray goggles she'd been hearing for about for the past few weeks. In a dark corner she modified them to suit her eyes, then positioned herself inconspicuously to watch the ring, where the Terminator was bound to emerge.
She had defeated a Terminator once before, she'd shut it down and studied it's anatomy, and was hoping to find out if maybe her terminator's problem was to do with it's structure, or faulty wires. It wasn't long before hers emerged, it's face stern. "Well hello Stony." She whispered to herself, giving it a nickname to refer to it by. Before looking through the goggles she watched it's fighting style a little while. It was certainly fast and strong enough to have caught her, so it must have decided not to catch her. This was puzzling.
AN: Ok, it's going to get really weird now. (If it wasn't weird before.) 'Junior' reference coming up.
Nomad looked trough the goggles at Stony. His cerebral structure looked fairly normal. She lowered the goggles and gaped. It had another structure in its abdominal region, not made of metal, but bone. She adjusted the goggles and saw a small face. Nomad almost fainted with the shock. What was the Machines/Goblins experimenting with now? Terminator pregnancy? As far as she knew terminators had no gender, and she'd only ever seen them disguised as males. She knew artificial life was possible, but the baby didn't look artificial. It was human. Maybe it was transplanted into the terminator?
Whatever the reasons, Nomad had to find out what was going on. Now she had two mysteries to solve. In all her hacking into the Machine's systems she'd never come across any mention of anything like this! After the fight she followed the terminator to the 'change rooms', where terminators would recharge, keep their weapons and get back into uniforms. She peeked from behind a locker and watched as Stony removed his shirt, and saw the slight bulge in his abdomen.
It was her turn to be surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder; she whirled around to see Blaize. She'd been so intent on following the Terminator without being noticed by it she'd missed being followed herself. He tugged on her arm, trying to get her to get out of there, but Nomad saw over his shoulder that they'd been caught.
"What are you doing there?" Another terminator demanded. Stony appeared back in uniform behind Nomad, and her heart sank. She doubted she could take on two terminators at once.
"I told them to be there." Stony said unexpectedly. The other terminator looked sceptical. "I have a task for them, they belong to ." He said, naming one of the influential Goblins that frequented the club.
The other terminator nodded and left. Blaize and Nomad turned back in surprise. He'd let them go again! Nomad looked questioningly at Stony as Blaize tugged on her arm again, not liking the situation.
"I will keep your secret if you keep mine." The terminator said. "I won't report your presence at last night's incident if you tell no one about my 'guest'." Blaize was confused, as he hadn't seen the pregnancy.
Nomad was also confused. Who could they tell if they were imprisoned? He must have meant other machines, but why wouldn't they know about it unless they weren't the ones that put it there? This terminator was definitely showing a lot of free will.
"Why didn't you catch me last night? I know you could have." Nomad asked, feeling a little braver.
Stony smiled wryly. "My guest seems to have a humanising effect on my mind. I fleetingly wondered if it would look like you when it grew up, and I admired your courage, so I let you go."
Blaize frowned. Admiration was a human trait. And they owed him. He definitely wasn't a standard terminator.
"What guest?" asked Blaize, his curiosity overcoming his cautiousness. The terminator's expression hardened again.
"Not here." He said. "If you want your questions answered meet me where we first met, tonight before curfew. It's abandoned now. The name I give to humans is Henry; you can call me that. Go now."
They didn't argue, and Blaize was eager to pull Nomad out of the place.
3: Questions
When they were a safe distance from the club Nomad pulled away from his grip. "Why did you follow me?" she demanded.
"Why did you follow him?" Blaize countered.
"My business is my business.' She said, her loner tendencies becoming dominant again. She didn't want to drag him into anything, even if he was stupid enough to follow her. 'Why were you at the store last night?"
"The same reason as you. We found out about the contract too, and are friends with the owners." It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why she cared about the owners, but figured he'd just make her angry again. He was still hoping to be friends, despite her apparent dislike of him. She was a good fighter and would be useful to his gang.
"Look," he said. "I think I somehow got on your bad side yesterday, so let me apologise and start again. I'm Blaize, of the DKL's."
Nomad sighed, deciding to drop the defensiveness. "It's not that I disliked you or anything you did. I prefer to be on my own. I don't take orders, and I don't usually advertise what I'm thinking. I don't simply meet people and then trust them. It's safer that way, both for me and those around me. You probably noticed that I'm dangerous, and am frequently involved in dangerous situations."
"I'm not afraid." Blaize answered simply.
She studied his face for a moment. "Come with me then. I'll answer your questions in a safe place."
"The store owners had received information to do with the Machines, and they sold it to me." Nomad explained to Blaize at her hideout. "I think they sold it to someone else and got caught doing it. I'd hacked into the Patroller's system and found out about the contract. I might be a loner but I'm still loyal to those who help me. I owed it to the owners to help them. Besides, if I can avert a slaughter, I do it anyway. It shouldn't have cost me anything to warn them, but then I got held up telling you guys to get away." She finished.
"So why did you follow that terminator?" Blaize asked.
"He had a chance to catch me at the store, but he didn't take it. He let me go, like he did this morning at the club. I was curious. I wanted to find out why, see if I could use it to my advantage. I'm not afraid of taking risks. So why did you follow me?" she asked.
"Mostly to find out why you would help us, and do something like follow a terminator. You make me curious too. Besides, I saw how you handled the terminator and thought you'd be useful to us."
"Fair enough." Nomad said. " Are you curious enough to come to the store this evening? If he didn't turn us in before, he's not likely to tonight. He's not a normal terminator."
He nodded. "I'll trust your judgement, but that doesn't mean I'll trust a terminator."
"Understandable. Just wait till you see what he's hiding." Nomad said mysteriously.
Henry was waiting for them. He led them inside, using his modem and enhanced vision to enure that no one was able to see them.
"So what's this about a guest? Why'd you help us?" Blaize asked, standing a safe distance away from Henry.
"He's pregnant." Nomad stated matter of-factly. Blaize looked at her as though she was crazy or joking.
"It's true, if pregnant is the right word for it." Henry said, pulling up his shirt to show the bulge. Nomad handed Blaize the x-ray goggles.
"How?" Nomad asked.
"Even I don't know. One day I just started feeling."
"Feeling what?" asked Blaize.
"Just feeling, which is impossible for a Terminator. I felt emotion, I felt pain. Then I felt something inside me. Secretly, I found out what it was. I'd have reported something like this, gotten rid of it and gotten back to being a terminator, but I felt I had to protect her, so I kept her a secret. It's had a humanising effect on me ever since I got her; I let you go, I've felt, I've kept secrets. She's given me complete free will." Henry touched his stomach thoughtfully, a strange emotion to see on a killing machine.
"You've still got a metal skeleton, but your power source has changed in structure. It looks like a human heart, only still mechanical." Blaize observed.
"I told you I was changing." Henry said. " It's most likely so that I can support the child."
"No Terminator's ever turned human before." Said Nomad. "The Goblins probably would have experimented on you both and dismantled you if they'd learned about this."
"Which is why I've decided to ally myself with you." Henry said. "I could not have kept this hidden for too much longer, and if you're becoming one of them, join them." Again, he sounded so human it put a chill down Nomad's back.
"But I can't take you back with us." Blaize said.
"Why? Without my uniform, your group could accept me. Granted, being male and pregnant would be a shock, l will keep it discreet."
"You're an adult. There aren't any non-Innocents in my group. Besides, I can't completely trust a terminator, even a weird one." Blaize pointed out.
"And what about your modem?" Said Nomad. "It can be tracked. If you go missing and they track you to a place you shouldn't be, it would be disastrous."
Henry turned around and lifted some of his hair at the back, revealing a scar. "I've removed it before, I'll do it again for good if I have to. Besides, you have allies that are adults don't you? I'm a fugitive, they'd believe that. I won't stay with your group specifically, just be on your side. As you pointed out, I'm a terminator, and so I have no one to turn to."
"For her sake," Nomad gestured towards the baby, "I'll help you in any way I can. There's no way you could have faked her, and it wouldn't be fair to let a child suffer because I'm suspicious of the one who carries her."
"I'm grateful." Henry said.
"I'll do what I can." Blaize sighed, trusting Nomad's judgement as he said he would. "A group of us are leaving the city soon anyway. It's getting too dangerous here for the younger ones, so we're going to escort them out."
"I'll help you." Henry said. "I'm still partly terminator, I'm not defenceless, I can escort you." Nomad nodded, remembering his fighting in the ring. "Besides, I also need to leave the city. Once out, I can leave you alone, you won't have to hear from me again."
"I'm really convinced you're turning human." Nomad smiled a little. "No Terminator I've seen has ever held a conversation for this long." She hadn't held a conversation for this long for a while either, the consequence of a loner's life. She trusted her instincts, which weren't telling her to be afraid. "By the way," she said to Blaize, "Where were you going to take the kids?"
"Not sure, really, just out of the city." Blaize answered.
"I know a place they can stay." She said.
4: Journey
Nomad had spent some of her early childhood on a farm in the country. The Machines and Goblins left the country people alone, because they needed them to keep the slaves alive with their produce. Usually humans that had shown good behaviour or had helped the Machines in some way were sent to work on farms, where the daylight could still be seen during the day.
Nomad, being a frequent traveller, was used to it, but DKL's and terminator alike were amazed at the sun's light and warmth. Normally, Henry wouldn't have cared, but the more the baby grew, the more human he became, physically and emotionally. Nomad fleetingly wondered if he'd turn female.
Grunge and Becca were suspicious of both her and Henry, who they'd disguised to avoid questions. Blaize had the final word and they were accepted. The rest of the DKL's were just happy to leave the city.
"We meet this girl one day and suddenly we completely trust her the next." Grumbled Becca, who immediately grew defensive whenever Nomad was around. She was walking near the rear with Grunge and Mouse.
"I don't trust her." Said Grunge. "But I trust Blaize, he trusts her, and he is the leader."
"Personally I think he's trusting his hormones and not his brain." Becca said bitterly.
Nomad led them to a farm. "I used to live here." She said simply. "And I hope you understand," she said to the younger ones. "That no one can know that you were here, or what you might see." They nodded wondering what they had to be so secretive about.
Nomad approached the farm's main barn on her own, cautioning the others to stay back. She'd told Blaize what to expect, but the others were surprised when they saw the muzzles of guns poke through upstairs windows.
"Identify yourselves."
"Nomad, I lived here 16 years ago, and helped you build your defences one year ago. I practically own this place." She yelled haughtily. "I request that these Innocents and fugitives be allowed in."
A few moments later a man with a gun exited the barn. He spoke quietly to her for a minute, out of hearing of the others, probably asking for a password and an explanation, then turned as an older man with greying hair ran out. Nomad smiled and embraced him.
"I had to be sure it was really her, sir." The first soldier said.
"Fine." The other man said. "Why haven't you come to see us sooner?" He asked Nomad "And what's all this?" He said, gesturing to the group of about fifteen that had come with her.
"Mostly new recruits, Nathan." She said. "The city is getting too dangerous for kids. I told them they could stay here. Mostly gang members and fugitives, so if they don't already know how to defend themselves, they'll learn." She explained, and gestured for Blaize to step forward. " This is Blaize, their leader."
"Glad to meet you, boy." Nathan said shaking Blaize's hand. "We owe most of our success here to Nomad, so a friend of hers is a friend of ours. Do you vouch for your group? It's imperative that Machines don't learn of our existence, so secrecy is a must." Blaize nodded, thinking that for a man who was so worried about secrecy, he talked a lot.
"Well then, a quick search and then you can come in. Nomad?"
"I've already searched them." She said. "All the weapons are in my bag, everyone else has been disarmed until you approve them." She'd deliberately done the search before reaching the barn, so that nothing strange about Henry could be discovered.
"All right then. We'll just let the dogs have a smell for terminators then." Nathan replied. Nomad hoped that Henry's structures had become human enough to pass the test. She held her breath when the dog came to him. It hesitated for only a moment, and then passed to the next person. He would have been difficult to explain.
Inside, the barn looked like any other, but through a trapdoor in the floor was an entire rebel base! There were a few families there as well, who worked the farms on the topside to maintain the concealment of the base, so there were kids for the DKL kids to talk to. Once introductions were made, Nomad felt she wanted to be on her own again, but she had to keep an eye on Henry, and Nathan wanted news about the Machines in the city, and any weaknesses she'd found out. When they were strong and prepared enough, Nathan was going to try to reclaim the city, destroy the machines, and force the Goblins to leave.
Nomad had let them have the farm, which she'd inherited, and occasionally helped them out, but she preferred to fight Machines in her own way. She'd learnt what she needed to survive from Nathan and the rebels, then left. She'd become a strong and skilled fighter, a clever and resourceful tactician, and a brilliant hacker, surpassing all of her tutors. She'd been good with chemistry too, and before she left she'd made a stockpile of explosive devises for the rebel's use. She'd have made an excellent soldier if she'd stayed, but she lived up to her name, moving from place to place, doing whatever damage she could to the Machines and gathering information before moving on.
Nomad felt strangely comfortable with Henry. Having been a terminator he didn't feel the need for conversation, so they were happy to work on any task for the rebels in silence. Even when they were alone they made no mention of anything suspicious. Her distrust of him had weakened considerably, though she still felt, just to be on the safe side, that she should keep an eye on him. Even Blaize had started to accept him, though he kept trying to talk to Nomad alone.
That night, after arriving at the base, Nomad caught Becca hanging around outside the room she was working in, trying to catch some of the conversation. Nomad could understand her suspicions, but was getting tired of it. She could tell that most of Becca's suspicion was based on jealousy. It had taken a small amount of time for Blaize to trust Nomad, compared to how long it usually took for a new member to be accepted, and Becca assumed he just liked her. It was obvious to Nomad that Becca liked him.
Nomad had listened to some of Becca's grumbling on the journey, and thought her spoiled and useless. There was going to be a war soon, and all Becca did was complain about stupid things.
"What are you up to now?" She said.
"I could ask you the same thing." Becca said evasively.
"Look whatever problem you have with me, I don't care. You'll be going back to the city with Blaize and Grunge tomorrow anyway, deal with whatever it is until then, when you won't be my problem." Nomad said.
"You thought this is about Blaize? That's funny." Becca sneered.
"I didn't say that. What do you want this problem to be about?" Nomad asked.
Becca looked at her contemptuously for a moment then replied, "You'll see."
Nomad wasn't intimidated, and remained expressionless as Becca walked off. She fleetingly hoped Blaize wasn't stupid enough to fall for Becca, and then returned to her work.
5: Death in the dark
Grunge was sitting with Nathan at a computer console, demonstrating his skills as a hacker. It was nighttime, and only a few sentries were still up, and to save power, only a few consoles were still operating.
Nathan was impressed with the boy. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here with us? We're always looking for new recruits." He said, remembering the loss of Nomad.
Grunge grinned and shook his head. He was loyal to Blaize, wherever he went, Grunge followed. He decided to check radio signals that were commonly used by Patrollers and terminators, the way he usually learned about contracts. "That's strange." He said.
"What?" Nathan asked.
"Have you sent any signals to other bases today?" Grunge asked.
"No, why?"
"There's a message that was sent from this location recently, if you hold on a moment, I'll find out what was sent." Grunge said, concentrating.
A moment later he stepped back in alarm, knocking over his chair, "There's a terminator here, and the base is going to be attacked!" he gasped.
Nathan looked at the screen, and was about to run and set off the alarm when he was stabbed in the throat by an unseen attacker.
Grunge whirled around and was picked up by his throat and thrown backwards, crashing into the computer as he fell. "You!" he whispered from the ground, his eyes widening in recognition, then gasped in pain as he was stabbed in the chest and left to bleed to death.
"New rule." The terminator smiled. "Innocents may be terminated when engaged in rebellion."
Others had been awakened by the crash. Blaize was the first on the scene, and knelt by his friend.
"Grunge?" he whispered. "What happened?" he tried to stop the bleeding with his shirt.
"Terminator." Grunge whispered. A soldier knelt by Nathan, and then rose shaking his head. Their leader had died quickly. Another soldier had heard Grunge, and raced off to alert the rest of the base.
"Get Nomad here now." Blaize said to one of the DKL's, who raced off to do so, but stopped when he saw Nomad already racing in the direction of the noise.
"What happened?" she asked, grief and surprise evident on her face, kneeling between Nathan and Grunge.
"We were betrayed." Blaize said stonily, looking at her accusingly. "Where's Henry?"
"He was just with me," she said. "He couldn't have done this."
"It was Becca." Grunge whispered, and died as the alarms went off.
"What are you doing here?" Becca asked Henry. "You were not assigned to this group. I was."
"What do you mean?" Henry asked, confused.
" You are a terminator assigned to the city, then you disappeared from it." She said. Realisation dawned on Henry, that she was also a terminator. "You'd have known the rest of us were looking for you if you'd kept your modem, but you obviously didn't want us to track you. What are you hiding?" she demanded.
"Damaged modem." He stalled. "What is your mission, and how can I assist you?" he asked.
"You can do nothing to help now until the others get here." Becca said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "But you could always prove your loyalty by destroying our little spy here." She said while turning, reaching around a corridor and grabbing Mouse, who was hiding there.
"Becca, let me go!" she cried.
"Kill her." Becca commanded Henry. "You're about to join your brother." She said cruelly to Mouse.
Henry hesitated for a second, and then reached out for Mouse. She screamed as the alarms sounded. Becca let go in satisfaction, and then grew angry as Henry shoved Mouse out of the way and started striking the other terminator. "Warn the others." He yelled to Mouse, who ran down the corridor. After a short battle where he quickly overpowered the weaker terminator, he grabbed her jaw and twisted it around, dislodging the wires to her main circuitry (her brain), disabling her.
Then the first blast hit the building, and the battle outside began.
For the first time in a long while, Nomad was at a loss for what to do. She was torn between defending the base and its occupants, or finding Nathan and Grunge's killer. She'd realised how Becca had gotten past the dogs. The girl had lagged so far behind that she was absent at the check, but joined the group as they went inside.
Nomad grabbed Nathan's key chain from around his neck and ran to a weapons cabinet, distributing guns to anyone who could use them. Then, hearing the yells above ground, she went to defend the base, briefly glancing back in sympathy at Blaize. If she found Becca on the way, she'd tear her apart for what she did, she was so furious.
Blaize took a little longer to leave his friend, but he got up when he heard Mouse's yells. He ran to intercept her before she could see her brother. His leadership instincts returned as he took her arm and led her to the safe room, a barricaded room for children and invalids in emergencies. He gathered up any other members of the DKL's as he went, ensuring their safety, as he always had done.
It seemed as though the Machines had sent every terminator to destroy the rebels, there were at least a hundred, as well as about fifty Patrollers, newly fitted with guns. The fit and able rebels at the base numbered only a hundred, and so, compared to the stronger terminators, things looked bad. Only a few of the terminators wore human appearance, the rest were menacing with their metallic skeletons. If any of the terminators got past the fighters and inside, the base's main operations and children would be at risk.
The barn was the only place from which the fighters had cover to fire from, but it was fairly useless against the bullets of the machines. Still, Nomad fought, racking her brain for ideas as she fired upon the approaching machines. The base had never really been prepared for this kind of attack. Some shots were directed at her, and she ducked behind the wall, but the bullets still punched through the wood, and one hit her in the lower back, just to the right of her spine. She was hurt, but not disabled, as the wood had at least slowed the bullet. Ducking low, she headed back for the trapdoor, crawling along the ground to avoid further shots. Looking at the dirt under her hands she got an idea. She lifted the trapdoor and slid down the ladder, ending up in the arms of Blaize, who'd been about to join the fight. He dropped his gun, surprised as she fell against him, and then looked in shock at the blood on his hands.
"I'm fine." She said roughly, though obviously in pain. Henry found and joined them, telling them of Becca's termination. Nomad quickly detailed her plan. "We only have, at most, a few minutes left before they'll breach the base." She said. "Get moving."
Blaize went up above ground and warned the fighters of what was to come. At a glance he saw a few terminators and patrollers struggling to get up off the ground, but a majority, though being beaten back by the hails of bullets, were still making their way forward. Another hundred meters and the first would be at the barn's doors. Nomad appeared at the trapdoor, climbed out and then turned and grabbed a sack pushed up by Henry. She then distributed the bombs inside it to Blaize, Henry and any soldier who'd run out of ammo, who then proceeded to bury them in scattered positions within the barn.
"Retreat!" she yelled over the gunfire, firing her own gun in the air to get the remaining soldiers' attentions. "Retreat!" She screamed the word repeatedly. Blaize pulled her back underground, and the soldiers ran for the trapdoor. Henry pulled two that were still alive but unable to walk along with him, then, as he was the last, bolted and barricaded the trapdoor behind him. As he ran down the corridors behind the other soldiers, his specialised hearing picked up the sound of the first terminators crashing through the barricaded barn doors.
They had to wait a few moments so that they could be sure every terminator and patroller was within blast radius, then Henry gave Nomad the signal, and she remote-detonated the bombs.
The walls shook with the force of the blast, and everyone ducked and covered, lest ceiling panels be shaken loose and fall on them. Henry blocked one such panel away from Blaize. The children remained safe, as the walls of the emergency room were reinforced with steel.
When the noise and shaking subsided, everyone stood. Henry looked down and saw the blood on Blaize's hands, and attempted to examine them for gashes. "It's not mine." Blaize said. "I was hardly involved in the fighting." He said it almost bitterly. "It's Nomad's blood."
"Is she alright?" Henry asked.
"She said she was, but I'm going to see her now." Blaize said, heading for the back of the group, as some soldiers pushed past in the opposite direction to finish off whatever machines remained. Henry followed. Both men were just in time to catch her as she finally succumbed to blood loss.
6: Not Over Yet
Thanks to Henry's detailed knowledge of human anatomy, Nomad was soon fit to be walking around again. No patrollers had been left to spread the word of the machines' defeat, so she had some time to contemplate the rebels' next move. It wasn't that things had been left up to her; it's just that with the celebrating – it was the most terminators destroyed at one time ever – no one else was thinking about what should happen next.
'Eventually they'll figure it out, that we're still alive.' She thought to herself. 'It would be better if we struck first. But how? We have limited manpower, limited firepower, and I don't think that just attacking the machines would do anything but get men killed.'
She touched her wound while thinking. It was raw, but otherwise not painful. She thought of Henry, a terminator that had changed so much. A machine, which was helping humans fight against his creators. A former killer, that was currently creating life, and was helping to preserve the lives of humans. She went to go talk to him. Since it had been learned that he was a terminator, he had been kept under watch, but as he had helped in the defence of the base none of the soldiers were hostile towards him. They assumed he had been reprogrammed, and Nomad couldn't be bothered explaining the truth to all of them. Besides, the child basically had reprogrammed him, but no one knew about the child.
"Henry?" She asked. "How many terminators do you think were in the attack?"
"Ninety percent of those on this continent." He replied. Nomad was surprised. The machines really had sent almost all of them.
"So the machine base would be weakened right now?" she pressed, beginning to get another plan.
"Yes, but our side sustained losses also." Henry said. "Even with the base weakened, we do not have the manpower to take out the machine's main computer." Henry had known what Nomad was getting at. "We probably wouldn't even get close, they still have defences other than terminators."
"I know, but if we had the manpower, do you know how to get to the main computer? You know, the right directions and codes to get past the doors?"
"Yes. But we'd need to do it soon, before the machines realise that they lost, and start importing more terminators from the Goblin's planet."
"OK. I need to go talk to the second in command, but I think I know how to strike at the machines."
"If we don't strike back now, when we have a chance of winning, then we just accept that we will always be ruled over by the machines." Nomad said to the group of men with the most rank in the base. "They will send more machines after us, until none of us are left alive." She said. "We have to strike at them first. If we finish them now, the Goblins won't have an alliance with anyone and they'll have to leave. No more terminators, no more patrollers, no more slavery."
"Who'll make the diversion." One of them asked.
"Tell me what to do and I'll do it." Blaize said bravely.
"It's alright, Blaize," said Nomad. "I have the perfect man for the perfect diversion." She turned back to the rest of the group. " I'll contact him if you give the go ahead. Henry knows the way to the main computer, we'll destroy it. All I need from you is the manpower and firepower to back us up."
"I agree that now is the time." Said one of them. "But I don't think we have either the manpower or the firepower."
"Call the other bases." Nomad said. "Tell them about our recent victory and I'm sure they'll jump at the chance to finish the machines once and for all."
"We haven't had contact with them for a while, and they were used to getting news from Nathan, they may not trust the rest of us."
"Where do you think I travel to all the time?" Nomad asked. "I'll call them.
The leaders spoke among themselves. Then one stood up and nodded to Nomad in agreement.
Nomad's diversion was going to be an electrician who was a friend of hers and owed her some favours. She told him to remote program a van, which she filled with volatile explosives. As the backup from other bases arrived, she gave him the go ahead to send it on its way to a munitions factory of the machines. Henry showed them a discreet entrance to the underground Machine base, where Nomad's team would wait until Machine units had been drawn away to the destruction of the factory. She'd timed it well, as they didn't have long to wait until the remaining Patrollers and terminators were drawn away, that munitions factory was a great asset to them.
The reason they still required backup was because there were many built in defences of the machine base, that had to be destroyed as they went or else the group would have been shot to pieces, and not even gotten past the first door. Also, there needed to be soldiers at the munitions factory so that the terminators wouldn't come back early.
At the doors, Henry would locate the electrical unit, where either he would type in the password, or Nomad could rewire them to let them through when they came to a door that Henry hadn't been given access to. Henry guided them through the Labyrinth of tunnels, always pointing out where a gun or shield would be positioned before the team got to them, so that they could be quickly taken out.
Deep underground, the Machine's main computer was housed. From there, it transmitted all of its orders to the machines and Goblins, and made orders to the Goblin planet.
So far, thanks to Henry's guidance, Nomad hadn't lost any of her team. They were already deep underground, near the heart of the Machine base. One level below them was the Machine's supercomputer. It was a car-sized ball of metal, wires and moving parts, suspended by hundreds of wires and beams in huge spherical room. There were maintenance droids, about the size of basketballs crawling all over it, ensuring that it continued to be operational. They had screwdrivers and spanners etc, to work on whatever problems arose. Every twenty seconds or so they would plug into the ball to get their next orders, as it was a waste of power to give them modems. One of the team had to get close to it, without dislodging the beams, or they would fall to their deaths. They had to be light, as the beams were designed only to support wires and the ball, not human weight. They also had to be quick, for as soon as the droids sensed human presence in the room, they'd tell the computer, and an alarm would sound, and the remaining terminators would be sent for. The droids themselves were also dangerous; they carried lethal toxins, which could be jabbed into human skin.
The last part of the plan was for the person to descend from the ceiling panel, get close to the ball, while the soldiers above would shoot off any droids before that got close enough to notice the person, they only had short range sensors. The person would then need to undo panels on the computer, plant one of Nomad's bombs, then quickly get out of there. At that point they probably would have been noticed, but as long as the team got to a safe enough distance and detonated the bomb before terminators reached the base, they wouldn't get their orders. They would still be dangerous, but their modems would be useless, and they'd only be able to act independently, and not be able to coordinate their efforts, and would have no access to munitions.
Henry located the door connecting their level to the Main room. Nomad, being the lightest put herself in a harness for safety, which Henry, the strongest, would hold onto a line on the other end in case she slipped. If that happened, she'd surely be noticed, and there wouldn't be enough time to pull her up and get her back on a beam to finish her job. Blaize, the second lightest, was the backup. She took as deep breath and lowered herself into the room, then reached out with her legs to pull herself towards a beam. She slid down, keeping as much of her weight on the line as possible, trying to only use the beam to guide her toward the ball.
She landed on the ball without too much difficulty, kicking a droid off it before it could plug in and alert the Machines. She took a screwdriver from her belt and loosened a panel; she jumped a little when she heard a shot behind her, knocking off a droid that was getting too close. Luckily, droids had no reason to hear, so the others remained oblivious to her presence. So far so good, she moved some wires aside to nestle a bomb amongst them, she tried to plunge her hand deep inside the ball, so that the blast would have the maximum effect, but she felt something move against her fingers. She jerked her arm up, narrowly avoiding the lethal jab of droid who was working on the computer internally. At the same time, another droid was shot off the ball. Nomad lost her balance and fell off the ball, bracing herself as the momentum of her swing slammed her into the wall.
Like a flash, Blaize was down through the trapdoor and lowered himself to the ball. He used the screwdriver that Nomad had dropped to stab the droid's connector wire as it was plugging into the computer. He then armed the bomb, and swung towards Nomad, so that Henry could pull them both up at once to save time. Nomad was sore, but all right. Henry pulled them up, and the team retreated, getting themselves a safe distance from the blast radius. The bomb had to be set off quickly so that the droids wouldn't dislodge it, so the team was only one level up when the blast occurred. They braced themselves as the lights went out, and the alarms only sounded for a moment.
The main computer was dead. There could have only been about ten to twenty terminators left, less if some were taken out at the munitions factory, and now they had no one to report to, no cause to fight for. The humans had won. Without their allies, hopefully the Goblins would retreat, and leave the humans in peace.